Iraq to IGMFU: A McCain Meltdown?

Is John McCain in a meltdown? Can this campaign be saved? Can the dots remain unconnected? I don’t know about the first two, other than just observing from the sidelines. But the third one I can take a crack at. I’ll try to be brief. After all, neither you nor I have all day.

It’s becoming increasingly evident, at least to me, that the Iraq policies on which John McCain has hitched his wagon are not stars but anvils these days. In a classic “be careful what you wish for,” McCain and friends tried to goad Barack Obama into going to Iraq – the novice, they said, who might even benefit from traveling with the political greybeard, who could “sorta show the new kid around.” On their terms, of course. Unfortunately for them, Barack didn’t bite.

Obama finally did go to Iraq and Afghanistan to see for himself and it’s the McCain camp who’s left grinding its collective teeth. He’s done rather well without the services of Mr. Hundred-Years-Over-There as a tour guide. Obama came, he saw, and he conquered. He not only looked cool in sunglasses and avoided an embarrassing Dukakis-style helmet howler, but he looked downright presidential. Significant meetings with General David Petraeus, exuberant rank-and-file soldiers, and Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Maliki and his second-in-command, made for some terrific photo-ops, flanked by the Bipartisan Brothers, Democrat Reed and Republican Hagel.

Maliki further added insult to injury by echoing a preference for a U.S. departure very much like Obama’s long-held 16-month withdrawal timeline. Hilariously, the White House then clambered aboard, babbling frantically about a neat new something called a “time horizon” for – er – um – withdrawal. I guess they figured if they came up with something else to call it, it wouldn’t count, and voters won’t notice anyway.

The press spotted it, though – so much that McCain is whining about Obama getting too much attention. As if the man long known as “Teflon John” has a right to complain – for his many gaffes and embarrassments that the mainstream media has resolutely either soft-pedaled or flat-out ignored. Now, of course, he’s been recast as Odd Man Out, as events slip through the side door while he’s still desperately barricading the front gate. When in doubt, channel Rumplestilskin in hopes of spinning what’s already turned into straw – into a kind of fool’s gold. “…But, but, but, Obama was wrong about the surge!” Well, Mr. McCain, it can hardly be forgotten how YOU were wrong about the whole thing from the get-go. You REALLY want to get into which man has the best overall, long-range judgment? Besides, if the escalation, or surge, is such a success, then why can’t we start leaving?

It would be bad enough if the McCain meltdown stopped with Obama’s checkmating the national security debate. But there’s also that other problem: the economy. My favorite incident in a veritable avalanche of them involves the hapless Scrooge-unmasked, the stone-hearted Phil Gramm. Until recently he was McCain’s BFF and lobbyist/UBS financier/economic policy czar. Then, he became poison.

Phil Gramm inadvertently exposed the most crass bedrock belief of the modern Republican Party – blabbing the dirty little secret they don’t want you to know. My late father had a term for it – his favorite “greed-is-good” punchline: “IGMFU” – pronounced “IGGUM-foo”. It stands for “I Got Mine, (and, considering the last two letters, you can probably fill in the rest with both accuracy and – um – decorum. Consult Marc Abinder’s source above if you need help).” It’s the John 3:16 of the GOP Bible.

Phil Gramm had the outrageously poor taste to blurt that the bad economy from which his own wealth and connections insulate him is merely a “mental recession” and that we’re nothing but a bunch of whiners to dare complain about it. The story’s faded by now, yet another McCain campaign oopsie that got a once-over-lightly from the media, but I think it’s worth revisiting, especially as a further meltdown metaphor. Choice words from this modern Marie Antoinette who, during his own Senate career, pushed legislation that made the Enron and sub-prime mortgage messes possible, and allowed corporate tax cheats to dodge accountability in hush-hush offshore banking havens. Phil Gramm may have had to resign the campaign in disgrace, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s still exerting influence under the radar. I doubt whether John McCain would deep-six a friendship considered that strong, long-running, or key.

The Phil Gramm IGMFU fiasco should stick in our minds throughout the rest of the campaign – and even beyond – every bit as much as the now-empty McCain claim to exclusive ownership of the Iraq/national security issue. It’s just one more thing about which McCain himself and his entire party are just plain wrong.

On the war, their dearly held My-Way-or-the-Highway arrogance and American-brand democracy forced on other sovereign nations at gunpoint by rich old white men nursing John Wayne complexes all are now exposed as little more than castles built on sand. On the economy, it’s We’ve-Got-Ours and the rest of you can just shut up and stop complaining, and try to work out your own fabulous golden parachute crony deals like we did. If you can’t, well, tough luck, Chuck. Be sure to write when you find work. And don’t forget – Free Market!!! Free Market!!! That, and a dime, will get you a few minutes at a parking meter anymore.

Thankfully, I think, America seems to be waking up and catching on. Neither the lust for empire because “our oil is under their sand” nor robber-baron economics work for the vast majority of us any longer. Never mind that we’ve been preached this gospel ever since the Reagan era – that cutting back government is good, that taxes are a nuisance instead of a shared civic obligation for the betterment of the common good, and that big business should be liberated from all those pesky regulations that keep them fairly honest and prevent their running amok. Furthermore, we’ve been told for years that public money is far better spent buying and building more destruction-delivery systems than any adversary (or even we ourselves) could afford. Our people may be sick, homeless and starving, but by Jove we’ll still be able to blow you to smithereens!

It doesn’t work anymore. The World According to John McCain doesn’t work anymore. The World According to the GOP doesn’t work anymore. No wonder so many millions of Americans have warmed to the idea of a change from years of that. It’s a meltdown that may lead ultimately to defeat for the McCain campaign. But it’s a welcome thaw from a very long, harsh, and heartless deep freeze for the rest of us.

By Mary Lyon

Mary Lyon is a veteran broadcaster and five-time Golden Mike Award winner, who has anchored, reported, and written for the Associated Press Radio Network, NBC Radio “The Source,” and many Los Angeles-area stations including KRTH-FM/AM, KLOS-FM, KFWB-AM, and KTLA-TV, and occasional media analyst for ABC Radio News. She began her career as a liberal activist with the Student Coalition for Humphrey/Muskie in 1968, and helped spearhead a regional campaign, “The Power 18,” to win the right to vote for 18-year-olds. She remains an advocate for liberal causes, responsibility and accountability in media, environmental education and support of the arts for children, and green living. In addition to The Northeast Democrat, Mary writes for OpEdNews, Democrats.us, World News Trust, and WeDemocrats.org’s “We! The People” webzine. Mary is also a parenting expert, having written and illustrated the book “The Frazzled Working Woman’s Practical Guide to Motherhood.” Her webpage is Mary Lyon on the Left.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LA Progressive, its publisher, editor or any of its other contributors.

Comments

Where have you been all my life? I just started receiving L.A. Progressive on-line and love Mary Lyons’s thoughtful and accurate articles. She is right on the button! Keep up the great work!
The “IGMFU” epithet is Right-on (no pun intended, but definitely appropriate). Theses Neo-Cons are all “Conservatives without Conscience” and more needs to be written about their disgraceful behavior. McCain is another idiot, like George W., hand-picked by the Corporate/Industrial/Military Complex who have taken control of our government and are running our country into the ground. They need a U.S. IGMFU President without scrupples who will continue to do their bidding. God help us!
Get out and vote for Obama in November before it is too late!